A New Tomorrow
by xRenegade-Sniperx
Summary: AU. When Ed and Al are adopted by Bradley, they realise that he's not as...nice as he may appear. And the people trying to help the boys may find themselves caught up in something a lot bigger than a case of abuse...
1. Meeting

My first fma fanfiction, my first multi-chaptered fanfiction, my first _fanfiction_...and it's AU v.v

I know I'm not all that good, but... I hope you like it anyway ^^; Constructive Criticism, please ?

Uh...so maybe it doesn't seem very Roy/Riza yet, but wait a while..

**Disclaimer: **Fullmetal Alchemist and its characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa. Sadly, I own nothing, I just like toying with them...

**Chapter 1 : Meeting**

xxx

"It's going to be ok, Ed, Al."

The blonde woman turned around in the front passenger seat of the car to look at the two boys. She felt sorry for them, having lost their mother at such a young age and being estranged from their real father. But, then again, she was used to this sort of thing, it came with the job.

When the boys just looked at her, not making any sound, Riza sighed and turned back around in the seat, looking out the window at the greenery flashing past in a blur. This man sure lived a long way outside the city. Picking up the file, she looked it over again; King Bradley, apparently he was some sort of distant relation to the boys. He was also the most powerful man in Central City, the whole nation of Amestris even, having a hand in everything that was going on.

"Yeah, your new father's a rich man, I'm sure you'll have everything you ever dreamed of with him."

Riza glanced over at her companion, Jean Havoc, and smiled. He was never seen without a cigarette, and was holding one in his mouth while driving. Luckily he had had the courtesy not to light it in the car. He knew that she hated the smoke and she was thankful that her partner was so considerate.

She glanced in the rear-view mirror, watching the boys' reactions; they hadn't known that their 'uncle' was rich. The younger brother, Alphonse's face seemed to light up at Havoc's statement, but Edward, the older brother, just folded his arms and looked out the window.

It was almost a year since their mother had died, and Riza had been checking up on them since they first came to the children's home. She had been the one to fill out all their medical details and all the adoption forms. Of course, Havoc had helped her; she had been too busy to meet Bradley in person, so Havoc had interviewed him for her. So this would be her first meeting with Bradley as well as the boys', she hoped he was nice enough.

"Why do we have to go live with this stinking old man anyway?" Edward huffed, still gazing stubbornly out the window. "Granny Pinako could have looked after us fine. Or we could have moved in with Auntie and Uncle Rockbell."

Riza sighed again, she had lost count of the amount of times she had explained this to the boy. It had been heartbreaking taking the brothers away from their 'family', though they weren't related in anyway and she hated having to take him to some man he didn't even know.

"Edward, you know this. Ms. Pinako is in no health to look after _one_ growing boy, let alone two. And the Rockbells were moving to Aerugo, they couldn't take you with them, it would have taken months for all the adoption papers to be processed and validated. Besides, they aren't related. I'm sorry, but you just couldn't stay with them..."

Alphonse's face fell at his brother's comment and he was now frowning deeply after hearing Riza. Edward just glared up at her and mumbled something incoherent.

"C'mon guys, cheer up. I've met Mr. Bradley. He seems a very nice man and he's always wanted children. But his wife passed away not too long ago and he couldn't have any of his own. You'll like him, I promise." Havoc turned his head and smiled at the two, holding his cigarette between his teeth. "Besides, I bet if you ask real nice...there's plenty of room for a dog, even two!"

With the mention of a dog, both boys' eyes lit up. They had always wanted a dog, their neighbours, the Rockbells had had one and they had loved playing with it.

Riza just looked over at Havoc and smiled, he always knew how to cheer the children up. Sure she was a good shoulder to cry on, or a person to tell any troubles to, but Havoc was the one to go to if they wanted fun or a laugh. Sometimes she wasn't sure who was more immature, him or the children.

"Ah. Here we are." She said as a large house came into view behind the trees and bushes.

The boys gasped in amazement as they caught sight of the house. It was more like a mansion, with a long, winding drive with tall hedges on either side and large grounds surrounding it. Even Riza gasped at the sight of it, though she shouldn't be too surprised, this _was_ the richest man in the country.

"See, what did I tell ya. Plenty of room for a dog." Havoc smirked at Riza he pulled into the drive.

The boys were bouncing in the back, their earlier gloomy mood gone, as they struggled to unbuckle their seatbelts in the hurry to get out and explore what was to become their new home. Havoc looked at Riza expectantly as he unbuckled his own belt and made to get out of the car, she just nodded and continued rifling through the papers she had brought with her.

"Go on ahead, I'll just get these sorted. I'll only be a couple more minutes."

Havoc nodded and got out of the car. Three slams of the doors and Riza was left in the relative silence of the vehicle. She sighed as she pulled out the necessary papers and shoved the rest in the glove box.

Quickly unbuckling her belt and stepping out of the car, closing the door lightly behind her, Riza stepped up to the front door of the mansion, where the boys had already gone.

The double front door was made out of a heavy wood with an ornate golden knocker, a lion's head on it. There was a butler dressed in a black tuxedo and what appeared to be a few security guards standing at either side of the tiled hall. The butler held the door open for her and beckoned her inside where the boys were waiting to be shown where to go.

Her eyes widened at the golden chandeliers hanging from the high roof, the seemingly priceless pieces of art on the walls and the skins of various beasts she had never seen before sprawled as decorative mats on the floor.

This was intimidating even to her.

xxx

The butler led them into a large, open sitting room, with couches gathered around a small coffee table. The boys looked about in excited wonder, while Havoc nervously stood, fingers dangerously close to the cigarette pack in his pocket; he had been told not to smoke indoors and, despite arguing that it wasn't lit, had reluctantly been made to take the cigarette out of his mouth and throw it away. Riza could tell that he was lost without even the unlit cigarette to chew on, but she said nothing, instead giving him a somewhat sympathetic yet stern look, telling him that she knew how he felt, but also warning him not to touch the cigarettes until they were away.

None of them noticed that they were not alone in the room until a dark haired, eye-patched man stood from one of the comfortable looking chairs facing away from the door, and cleared his throat, indicating his presence. Edward and Alphonse let out a timid squeak and ran from the fish tank they had been tapping, hiding behind Riza and Havoc. The man looked at them all and smiled, motioning for them to sit down on the chairs surrounding the coffee table.

They made their way round to the chairs and sat down on the long sofa, the Elric brothers sitting between Riza and Jean; Alphonse holding onto Riza's arm and Edward looking around the room and shifting every now and again beside Jean. He made to put his feet up on the coffee table, but thought better of it when Riza sent him a stern warning look. Though he was a trouble maker, he knew better than to cross the 'Hawk's Eyes'.

Riza studied the man as she sat, unsure of whether she should speak first or let him. The man walked over to a bar in the corner of the room took a glass out of the cupboard, pulling out a bottle of scotch and making himself up a drink. As he sat down on the chair opposite Riza and the others, the butler came in with a tray of tea and soft drinks for Ed and Al.

"I hope you don't mind that I'm not offering any of my scotch. It would probably be unwise of me, seeing as you're driving. I do hope you like the tea, though. Xing's finest, right from the emperor's palace itself. I'm King Bradley, by the way. It's a pleasure, finally meeting you here."

"Thank you very much. I'm Riza Hawkeye, and this is my partner, Jean Havoc. And these two, they're Edward and Alphonse Elric, though I'm sure you know that."

Riza said quietly, while Havoc muttered a small 'Yo'.

She gratefully accepted the tea offered to her and sipped it slowly, letting the warm drink enter her mouth and savouring its taste. She found she never had time for a nice cup of tea any more, instead taking the coffee that was quick to make and great for late nights and early mornings. She took this time to study the man carefully. He seemed nice enough, his smile was friendly and welcoming and he had enough wrinkles to make him look sophisticated, but not so many as to just look old. And though he was just over sixty, he still had quite a fit body and his hair showed no signs of greying.

Bradley seemed to be studying them just as she was him; his one olive-green eye was slowly drifting between the four on the sofa in front of him and his expression had changed to a more stern one. Riza could have wilted under his strong gaze, but she kept her back straight and smiled politely at Bradley, waiting for him to speak.

It was a while before he finally did, but she was relieved that his smile was back on his face.

"So these are the two boys I'm adopting. I'm glad to finally meet you two. You look like two energetic young men, don't worry, there's plenty of room for you to run around and play. In fact, why don't you two go and explore a bit. You can check out your new room as well, though I hope you don't mind sharing, I've been told you would prefer to."

Bradley motioned for the butler and Edward and Alphonse looked up at Riza and Jean before getting up to follow the butler. Riza gave the boys a reassuring smile and gently squeezed Alphonse's hand. Jean punched Edward playfully on the shoulder and told him to 'go on and have fun', grinning at the two. The boys nodded and reluctantly followed the butler out of the room. Sure, they were excited to have been adopted, but they were scared to be leaving the people they had known for most of their lives.

Bradley smiled as he watched the boys leave, shoulders slumped slightly. They looked like strong boys, they'd get over it, he'd make sure of that. He returned his gaze back to the two social workers. One quick interview and that was it. They'd probably come back to check up on how they were getting on, but he wasn't worried about that. He just needed to make a good impression now...

xxx

"Well, I hope that's everything cleared up."

Bradley smiled friendlily at the two and stood up to see them off. He felt his bones crack as he did so and clenched his teeth, his limbs were stiff from sitting for so long, a painful reminder that his body was growing old. The interview had run on later than he had hoped, but it was finally done.

"Yes. That's everything." Havoc replied, standing up as well while Riza gathered the papers. "It was nice to meet you. I'm sure you'll be a great father to these boys." He offered his hand out for Bradley to shake.

"Thank you. It's been so lonely since my wifepassed. It'll be nice to have someone in the house again.."

Bradley reached out and took Havoc's hand, shaking it heartily before doing the same for Riza.

"I hope you don't mind, but we'll be checking back in a month to see how things are going." Riza stated, stifling a yawn.

"Yes, I know, that's fine. I'm sure the boys will be glad to see you then." Bradley moved towards the door, this had taken far too long, he had business to see too and these people didn't seem to want to leave.

When they reached the front door, Riza turned around.

"Do you mind if we say goodbye to the Elrics. We've spent a lot of time with them, I'm sure they'll want to say their farewells."

Bradley cursed inwardly, damn woman, but he smiled to her and stepped towards the stairs.

"Sure, that's no problem. I'll just go up and get them now, so wait here."

Riza nodded and stood at the door with Havoc, waiting for Bradley to come back down. She could tell by the way Havoc was impatiently tapping his feet that he desperately needed a cigarette. She imagined him cursing her for being so thorough in the meeting and chuckled to herself. Just because he was a slob, didn't mean she couldn't do the job properly.

Havoc's hand kept wandering to his pocket with the cigarettes in it. This had to be the longest he had ever gone without one and it was absolutely killing him. If he didn't get one soon, he would scream.

Soon enough, Bradley came back down the stairs and Riza frowned when she failed to see the boys with him. Before she could ask, Bradley was already explaining.

"Ah. They must have been so excited that they used up all their energy. Fast asleep, the little angels. I didn't want to wake them, they looked so peaceful. I'm sorry, but you'll see them soon, anyway, yes?"

"That's fine, yes, we'll see them soon. Tell them that, will you?" Though she was only a carer, Riza couldn't help but feel she had lost her sons. She had spent so much time with the Elric brothers, she would miss them deeply.

"Thanks see ya" Havoc said, waving slightly before near-dragging Riza out the door and towards the car. Her mouth opened to say goodbye but the door was slammed shut and she frowned again. He had seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of them.

She pushed Havoc away from her and walked towards the driver's seat, sighing when she saw Havoc light up the cigarette and take a deep drag, relieved to have finally got one.

"You know I'm not letting you smoke that in the car." She stated and he frowned miserably, before taking one final puff and stomping the butt out with his boot.

"Ah. C'mon, I was so good in there. I need another, please?" he whined, getting into the passenger seat while Riza rolled her eyes at his childish pleads. Didn't he know he was fighting a losing battle? There was no way in hell she would be stuck in a smoke filled car.

Ignoring Havoc's pleas, Riza took one last look at the mansion and started the car. She hoped the Elric brothers would be okay, there was something about that man which gave her a bad feeling.

xxx

One olive coloured eye watched from the window as the car drove down the driveway and out of sight. He smiled and let the curtain drop back down from where he had been holding it out of the way. They had stayed for so long that it had irritated him. That woman even more so than the man; he could tell the man had been itching to leave the whole night, but the woman had been so damn thorough and nosey.

It didn't matter, though. They were gone now. Bradley made his way up the stairs to the boys' room, they had been sitting playing with some toy cars when he had gone up last, not sleeping. They still were now; he could see them through the crack in the partially open door. Their big grins as they raced the toys up and down the room. Bradley wondered how long those smiles would last as he stepped into the room, turning out the light in the process so that only the dim light from the lamps remained. The boys looked up at him in surprise, why would he turn out the light on them?

"Well," Bradley said, closing the door behind him. "Now that they're finally gone, let's get things straight."

A sinister smirk appeared on his face and a glint of something neither boy recognised, but both knew couldn't bode well, shined through in his eye as Bradley stepped forward into the darkened room.


	2. House Rules

**Chapter 2 : House Rules**

xxx

"_I swear, Roy, you__'__ll be the death of me..__."_

A half drunken cup of coffee sat abandoned on the outdoor table of the small café, threatening to go cold in the morning air. A dark haired man in a police uniform (save for the jacket and hat which lay over the back of his chair) sat with one leg resting atop the other, seeming to have forgotten about his morning coffee.

His dark eyes were more focussed on a small fragment of metal in his hands, turned it over and over with his fingers, studying the thing. It appeared to be made out of bronze, but it was lightweight and had obviously been broken off something. There was part of a design on it; a snake, with a tiny red ruby for an eye, appeared to be eating it's or another's tail, it was hard to tell as the rest had been broken off.

The man's eyes hardened and he squeezed the thing in his hand, running his other hand through his already messy black hair. He let out a sigh and raised his head to look up at the sky which was already beginning to darken with dreary grey clouds. Something stung the back of his eyes and he shut them tightly letting his words escape his mouth in a breath. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

The man jumped a little, startled at the woman's voice coming from behind him. He turned around swiftly to see a brunette in a police uniform frowning at him.

"Rebecca..." there was a hint of annoyance in the man's voice as he turned back around in his chair and motioned for her to sit down. The hand that clutched the piece of metal opened a little as he did so and the woman caught a glimpse of the sunlight reflecting off it. She narrowed her eyes and her frown deepened as she realised what it must be.

"Don't tell me you've still got that thing, Roy. Are you still blaming yourself for what happened? It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have done anything. It's been two months...Hughes wouldn't have wanted you to-"

"Shut up!" A few people looked up at Roy's sudden outburst, but they soon returned to their business when they seen the anger in his eyes. "You don't know a thing; not about Hughes, not about that night, _nothing_! So stop telling me that it wasn't my fault when I know it was!"

With that, Roy grabbed his jacket and hat and stormed away from the table, leaving Rebecca alone with a startled expression on her face. It took her a few moments to recover, but when she did, she jumped off her own seat and swiftly followed the man.

"Roy..!"

xxx

A line of sunlight streamed through the semi-open curtain and the morning songs of the birds could be heard from outside. The two boys lay atop Ed's bed in a darkened part of the room, holding tightly to each other. The only sound coming from them was their soft breathing.

Ed's golden eyes cracked open a bit as he heard his brother emit a soft whimper and felt him move around a bit, clutching to Ed's shirt as if afraid to let go, even in his sleep. Wrapping his arms tighter around his brother in a small hug, Ed rested his chin on Al's head and murmured softly to him. "It's going to be alright. It's going to be alright. Don't worry, it'll be alright..."

His voice broke and already red and puffy eyes began to water. He squeezed them tightly shut, tears rolling down his cheeks. How could he comfort his brother with something that he didn't even believe himself? How could he lie like this?

A replay of the night before flashed in his head and he clutched even tighter to his brother, trying to cover his worry and fear with the pain of his bruised body.

_Bradley took a step into the darkened room and both boys immediately dropped their toys and huddled closer to each other. The malicious glint in his eye and the cruel smirk on his face were completely different from the smiles and friendly aura he had exuded when they had met him with Riza and Havoc. And though he had not made his intentions known yet, each boy felt a small shiver run down his spine as Bradley towered over them, hands clasped behind his back. He moved over to the lamps in the room and turned them out, so that only the light streaming in the door from the hall remained and the boys were left in Bradley's shadow._

_Edward narrowed his eyes and moved protectively in front of his brother, mustering up the best brave face he could and staring Bradley right in the eye. This defiance only made Bradley's smirk wider, at least the boy showed to have some guts, exactly what he wanted. _

"_Now, now, boys, there's no need to act so nervous around your new 'father'. I only came in here to make sure you would understand the rules of the house. And the consequences if these rules are broken."_

_Edward swallowed a little and felt Alphonse squeeze his hand softly, somehow, despite what he had said, Bradley still managed to make him tremble. There was an underlying tone in Bradley's voice, a hint of warning, of authority. And Edward had a feeling that these 'rules' might prove to be unreasonable and strict and the consequences would be more than a time-out. Unfortunately, Bradley soon proved him right._

"_The first one, and most important, is that I am the 'boss' here. Whatever I say, no matter how unreasonable you may think it, goes. You will treat me with respect and do what I tell you. The second, you are not allowed outside of this house, do you get that? There is nothing for you outside, and I don't want you running around to be seen by anyone. I will, of course, lock the doors if ever I have to leave the house and the guards are there, I will know if you go out. Third: while you are here, you will do work around the house; it'll get some muscle into those scrawny frames and will make things much easier for you later on."_

_Bradley narrowed his eye at the two brothers, the confusion was clear on their faces, sure they could do housework, and they already knew to respect their elders, but they weren't allowed outside? And what did Bradley mean, 'it would make it easier for them later on'? Ed also wanted to know why Havoc and Riza had left them here without saying goodbye; Bradley seemed to have read his mind as he continued, taking advantage of the boys' naivety._

"_And don't try calling your two carers, they didn't even leave a number for you. They seemed happy to have gotten rid of you, they were eager to leave. They never cared for either of you. 'Good riddance'." _

_Edward's face and heart dropped when he heard this. They had really wanted to get rid of them? They were glad to not have to look after him or his brother anymore? But he had liked them, they had been nice. Had it all been just a front, like Bradley? Had they really been counting down the days until Ed and Al were adopted with an excitement akin to that of a child on the eve of his birthday?_

_Al seemed to be just as downhearted to hear that their carers hadn't actually cared about them at all, he clutched Ed's hand tighter and hot tears formed at the corners of his eyes. Ed could feel his own tears start to form as well and unfortunately, Bradley noticed this and the comforting squeeze Ed gave his brother back. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed Edward's wrist with such force that it made him drop his brother's hand. Bradley threw Edward to the floor again and stood over him. _

"_And I will not tolerate such childish behaviour. You are too old to be crying over such a trivial thing! You are both old enough to be able to take care of yourselves without having to hold each other's hand! I don't want to see you holding hands or 'comforting' each other. You have to be strong; don't baby each other!"_

_He landed a kick to Ed's stomach as if to further what he said and Ed groaned in pain. Al rushed over to his brother but was knocked backwards as Bradley's arm connected with his own stomach. Bradley kicked Ed again and then grabbed him and lifted him up by his already bruised arm, making the boy stand up. Once he seemed steady enough, Bradley whipped his hand across Ed's face, knocking him to the floor again, while Al looked on afraid. His own stomach hurt from the force Bradley had knocked him backwards and he just sat with his back against the bed, watching with his mouth agape as Bradley kicked Ed once more before standing back._

"_I don't think I need to explain what any punishment I deal will be like, this demonstrated it perfectly. You will not act like little children in front of me. Count this as a warning, next time, I won't hold myself back."_

_He then turned his attention to Al, one good eye narrowed dangerously. "And you will both learn independence! You must fight your own battles!"_

_With that, he turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door and leaving the two in darkness, tears streaming down their faces. They felt so alone._

Edward pulled his little brother closer into a tighter hug and Al's eyes opened a bit. "Brother..?" Ed just smiled softly and Al clutched him tighter, burying his head into Ed's shirt. Ed laid his hand on Al's head and gently stroked his hair, trying to comfort his brother.

His eyes widened as the door banged open and Bradley's somewhat amused yet angered voice rang out.

"Perhaps I was not clear enough about this last night."

xxx

Riza hurried down the street past the crowds of people going about their business. She had just received a call from her office; Bradley had been ringing requesting a meeting later that morning. Havoc had gotten the call as well, of course, Bradley wanted to talk to them both about the Elric brothers. But what could be so urgent that he had wanted a meeting so soon? Had something happened to one of them? Worry gnawed away at her as she ran through different possibilities of what could have happened to the two boys as she made her way towards her office, not really paying attention to where she was going.

Unfortunately, the man who banged into her hadn't been paying attention to where he was going either, resulting in both of them landing on the ground. The man cursed under his breath and picked himself up, brushing himself off. He only seemed to notice Riza sitting on the ground after he had gotten up and he blushed, offering her a hand.

"I-I'm sorry, should've been watching where I was going, are you okay?"

Riza gratefully accepted his hand and he helped her get up. She realised that he was a policeman as she caught a look at his uniform; trust her to knock a _policeman_ to the ground.

"It's okay, it was my fault really, I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry." she said politely, bowing her head at him.

The man let out a chuckle and let go of her hand. "I guess we're both to blame, then. Name's Roy. Roy Mustang. I hope I didn't hurt you?"

Riza let out a small chuckle herself, he seemed friendly enough, but she really had to go. "No, you didn't, I'm fine, thanks. I'm Riza Hawkeye. I'm sorry, but I have to get to work now. It was nice to meet you, though."

"And you." Roy smiled. "I should let you get going then, sorry." He nodded pleasantly at her and walked off a bit, picking his hat off the ground and continuing on his way.

Riza watched him for a while but shook her head and took a step forward. Something glinted on the ground and she looked down, noticing a small piece of metal lying just in front of her. The man must have dropped it when he fell. She stepped towards it and bent down to pick it up, studying it with her amber eyes. A bronze carving snake with a ruby eye biting a tail? It looked to be broken, but she pocketed it anyway. She could leave it into the police station later on, in case the man had needed it.

For now, she had too much on her mind. What could Bradley want that it couldn't wait?

xxx

Right, so it's short and probably not all that good, but there are some important things in it? I was considering making it longer, but I've got a set plan for each chapter and I didn't want to pull stuff from the next one...

No matter which world he's in, to me, Bradley will always be Wrath XD

Not much may have happened, but next chapter should be slightly longer ( hopefully ) .

Anyway, enjoy! ~


	3. Bribes and Revelations

**Bribes and Revelations**

"Perhaps I was not clear enough about this last night."

Before either boy could react, Bradley stomped up to the bed, grabbed Ed by the collar and threw him to the floor. Ed groaned as his already bruised ribs made contact with the floor. He pulled himself into a sitting position, golden eyes focussed on the floor. He flinched as he heard the slap of Bradley's hand against his brother's cheek and a small thud as Alphonse fell off the bed. He felt utterly useless; he couldn't fight Bradley, that would only make things worse.

Bradley's eye was ablaze with rage as he stared down at the two boys, both of whom were trying not to meet his powerful gaze.

"I hope you know..." he started, voice coming out in a low growl, "...that I was very generous in letting you two share a room."

Bradley's voice got louder as he continued.

"That does not mean that you can share a bed and whimper like babies! I already went over this with you, hopefully now you have learnt that I am serious. If I see you do this again, not only will you be punished, but I will separate you both into different rooms! Am I being clear?"

Neither boy said anything for a while, but Al slowly shook his head and Bradley seemed satisfied with that.

"Now, your punishment for this time..." Bradley paused before he spoke again, eye narrowed at Al. "Come here for a minute, Alphonse."

Al's eyes widened and he looked up at Bradley, as did Ed. Al hesitated, not sure if it would be a better or worse to keep Bradley waiting. Fortunately, Bradley answered that for him.

"NOW!"

Gulping, Al looked at his brother before getting up slowly and walking nervously over to Bradley. Bradley grabbed the boy roughly by the shoulders and took Al's shirt off. He turned the boy around so that his back was facing him and drew his sword from its sheath. Ed gasped as Bradley raised the sword and swung it into Al's back with the flat end. Al let out a scream as the metal connected with his bare skin.

Bradley repeated this action ten more times shouting at the boy as he did so.

"One for each year you have lived! Maybe this will help you remember your age in the future!"

When he was finished, Bradley pushed Al away from him, watching as the boy curled up into a ball at his feet, trying to contain his tears. Ed gulped, tears brimming at the corners of his own eyes, as he looked at his brother and made eye contact with Bradley. Was he next?

Much to his surprise, Bradley sheathed his sword again and turned to leave. He was stopped as Ed's voice reached him.

"Why did you only punish Al? I did wrong too!"

Bradley only turned his head to look at the boys, gaze flicking over Al still scrunched on the ground before fixating on Ed's golden eyes. He shrugged.

"It was your bed, wasn't it? Alphonse was the one who hadn't been in his own bed, so he was the one punished. Now, if there's nothing else, I have to go into town now, I'm late as it is. This means that you'll be left alone for a few hours. There's a note in the kitchen with all the work I want you to do around the house while I'm away. I kept it easy for now, but make sure it's done by the time I get back." Bradley's voice took on a serious, darker tone. "There will be consequences if you break any of the rules while I'm gone. And trust me; I'll know if you do anything." With that, he walked out the door, shutting it behind them. He had no doubt that the boys had learned at least some obedience by now.

Ed narrowed his eyes at the air where Bradley had been a couple of minutes ago. He clenched his fists and bit his lip in anger, but didn't do anything, lowering his gaze back to the floor. It had been _his_ fault, not Al's. _He_ had been the one who had called Al over to comfort him. So why was he getting away unpunished? He felt guilty, like he should be punished, but he was too scared to do anything right now. So he just sat there, trying not to listen to the heavy breathing of his brother as he tried to hold back sobs.

When he finally heard the sound of the car starting and moving down the drive, Ed quickly rushed to his brother's side, reaching out to touch his arm. "Al! Are you-"

His sentence was cut short as Al sat up a bit and roughly pushed him away, hurt clear in his watery eyes and in the tone of his voice. "Don't touch me!" he hissed, sitting upright and pulling his knees to his chest, facing away from Ed. "You heard what he said; he'll hurt us again...please, brother..."

Ed closed his eyes as he heard the break of Al's voice and he had to blink back the tears again. He brought his own knees up to his chest and sat in a similar fashion to Al, burying his head in his arms. What kind of big brother was he? He couldn't protect Al from this!

Al shivered and looked over to where his shirt lay on the floor, slowly reaching over to it and pulling it on. His back stung as the material rubbed against the raw skin and Al winced, letting out a whimper of pain. He clenched his teeth against it though and sat stiffly, trying not to let the material rub against the wound any more.

Both boys sat in silence for a while, with nothing but the ticking of the clock and their heavy breathing to break the quiet. Eventually, Al let out a deep sigh and stood up, trying not to show the pain that shot up his back. He looked over at Ed and made to walk out the door.

"We should probably get a start on that work now, brother..."

xxx

The pen made a steady tapping against the wood of the tabletop and blue eyes flicked up to the clock for the tenth time that morning. Bradley was late.

Riza let out an annoyed sigh and glared at Havoc. "Could you please stop that tapping?"

Havoc dropped the pen at her harsh gaze and sprawled out over his desk. "But he's late! It's supposed to be our day off, he called us in and he's _late_! I need a –"

"No. I know you're annoyed at him being late; I am too, especially since this was supposed to be a day off. But you are _not_ filling the office with smoke! You can wait."

Havoc's face fell and he let his head drop with a thud on the desk. As much as he needed a cigarette right now, he did not want to argue with Riza when she used _that _tone of voice.

He jumped up as the door to the office opened and Bradley strolled in as if he owned the place (though, with as many bribes as he gave round the city, that could be partially true, Havoc thought).

"I'm sorry I'm late, got held up at home. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"No, no it's fine. We're not busy today anyway. Please, take a seat." Riza indicated towards a chair opposite her desk and Bradley sat down on it. Havoc walked over and took a seat beside Riza, plopping down on the chair with a thud and earning a small glare from Riza.

"So, what did you want to see us for today, anyway?" Havoc asked casually. Riza shot him a short look of warning, but quickly turned her gaze back to Bradley, waiting for him to speak.

"I wanted to discuss the Elric brothers, if it's not too much trouble." Bradley's voice carried a friendly, but serious tone, as did the expression on his face.

"Oh? Is there a problem? Have they done anything?" Riza was curious, but kept her voice neutral and polite; professional. She found herself wondering not for the first time if something had happened to the brothers.

"No, no! No problem at all, I just wanted you to do one thing for me." Bradley's olive eye looked directly into Riza's own amber ones, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.

"You see, I am a powerful man, and as such, I have powerful enemies. As much faith as I have in my guards, I'm afraid that the boys' safety may be compromised if word got out that I adopted them. Some people may want to use them against me and I don't want the boys to get harmed."

Riza narrowed her eyes as Bradley talked, where was he going with this? Did he want them to keep the adoption confidential? But it already was; only the people from the home and anyone who had been involved with the adoption process were obliged to see the files.

"So, Miss...Hawkeye, isn't it? And Mr. Havoc." Bradley wore a smile on his face, but still managed to maintain the feeling of seriousness. "I would like you to destroy any files concerning my adoption of the Elrics."

The fact that he had stated this so...simply threw Riza and Havoc, the latter letting out a somewhat loud "What?" in his confusion. Riza didn't even bother to glare at him for that, she was confused too. Nobody had ever requested that they destroy a file, why would they? All files were confidential.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bradley, but why would you want the files destroyed?"

Bradley continued smiling, but it didn't seem to be just as friendly as it had before. "I believe I already gave reason. I don't want anyone knowing I adopted the Elrics, for fear they might threaten the boys and use them against me."

"But the adoption was confidential; we won't let anyone see the files so-"

"Then, surely there's no harm in destroying them, is there?"

Slightly annoyed at Bradley's interruption, Riza tried closed her eyes for a short while, trying to think of the best way to explain this to Bradley. Luckily Havoc interjected for her.

"We have to keep the files for official reasons. We can't just destroy them, we need to keep the records, you see, in case anything happens. No one's going to see the files anyway except for the people who already know you adopted the boys. But if you're that concerned, we will keep them locked up extra tight, to be safe." Havoc half chuckled out the last part, but it seemed Bradley wasn't happy with that.

He wasn't. He had already visited the people who knew he had adopted the Elrics. They had been much easier to convince, probably because they _were_ receiving special 'donations' from him. But he was getting annoyed at these two, and on top of that, the woman seemed to be staring at him with suspicion. He wondered if he should try his next move, it might make the woman more suspicious, but still, it couldn't hurt to try. It's not like she was going to find out anything about him anyway, not the truth.

Slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out his wallet, Bradley took out a wad of cash and set it on the table, keeping his hand on top of it. Both pairs of eyes across from him widened as they seen how much money it was. Maybe this would work...

"Perhaps I can convince you otherwise. Destroy the files and the money is yours." Bradley took his hand off the money and slid it closer to the pair, who were now looking at him in shock.

Unfortunately for Bradley, Riza's expression soon changed to one of outrage. Was he actually trying to bribe them? Standing up forcefully and making her chair slide back with a bang, Riza pushed the money back over to Bradley.

"I am sorry, sir," she started, holding back her anger, though it was still evident in her voice. "but I am _not_ going to accept a bribe, and neither is my partner! Now, please, I've had enough of this. The files are not going to be destroyed, but I can assure you that no one but us will see them. This meeting is over. You should leave and take your money with you."

Bradley narrowed his eye at the frustrating woman; of course she would have to have high morals. He wondered if it had just been the man, would his plan have worked? He stood up angrily, much like Riza had done and grabbed the money, shoving it back in his pocket.

"I am only concerned with the safety of the boys! Do you wish to take the risk of someone finding the files and possibly putting the boys' lives at risk?"

Havoc stood up, sensing the tension in the air and the furious face of Riza, she looked like she was going to snap back at him. He figured he'd better end this, before it turned into a shouting match. He himself was outraged that Bradley would think to bribe them, but it hadn't insulted him as much as he knew it had Riza.

"Mr. Bradley, it would be better if you left now. We have a lot of work to do. You can be assured that the files will be kept highly confidential, but they will not be destroyed." Havoc made his way over to Bradley and started ushering him out the door. He received a rough push from Bradley, but succeeded in getting rid of the man, anyway.

"Very well, but if anything happens to the boys because of this, it'll be on your shoulders." With that he turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Riza slowly sat back in her chair, still shaking from anger, but mind filled with questions. Why had Bradley so desperately wanted the files destroyed? _Was _he only concerned for the safety of the brothers? But he had seemed too desperate for that. So what?

"Riza..."

Looking up to see Havoc gazing at her worriedly, Riza managed to give him a small smile, but it quickly faded. "Why would he try and go so far just to destroy some adoption documents?"

"Well, he did say he was concerned for the Elrics safety. I'm sure there are people who would use the brothers to take down Bradley. Don't think too much on it."

Letting out a small noise that was neither of agreement nor disagreement, Riza gently drummed her fingers on the hard wood of the desk. "I guess, but..." she opened her desk drawer and took out the files on the Elrics. "I'm worried about them..."

Havoc smiled softly and laid a hand on her arm. "I know. Now come on, I'll give you a lift home, looks like it's going to rain."

Sure enough black clouds had taken over the sky, darkening the place even though it was nearly midday. Riza sighed and got up, grabbing her coat as she made her way to the door which was held open by Havoc.

She stopped halfway there and glanced at the phone on her desk. "Go on ahead; I'll be down in a minute. I just need to make a quick call."

Havoc nodded and walked out the door, letting it shut gently behind him. Riza picked up the receiver and opened one of her files, dialling the contact number on the top. She held the receiver to her ear and listened to the rings of the phone drumming in her ear.

xxx

A loud crack of thunder broke the silence and stillness of the air, and the heavens opened up, rain seeming to fall all at once without a break.

Roy cursed under his breath, flowers hanging limply in his hand as he made his way over the soggy earth and grass. He looked around him, watching as a few people hurriedly left the cemetery, trying to escape from the storm.

Making his way up to his friend's gravestone, Roy looked at it for a while and gently laid the flowers before it. He stared at it, seemingly contemplating something, before shrugging his shoulders and sitting down on the already waterlogged grass. He was wet already; it didn't matter if he sat down or not.

A small, sad smile formed on his lips as he stared at the name on the gravestone. "I can't believe it, can you? It's already been two months, Maes..." His voice came out in a choke, like he was struggling to hold back his tears, his emotions. "Sorry I haven't been to visit you very often. I've...been busy, I'm only on my lunch break now, so I don't have too long. Gracia and Elicia moved to the new house in Aerugo a few weeks ago, it's just been finished...It's a big house, fit for a family, unlike that apartment you were in before. They have a big garden; Elicia's even going to get a dog! Gracia told me they're settling in fine, their neighbours, the Rockwells or something like that, are very friendly. I haven't seen it yet...but I've been told Elicia loves the place. You know...you should be bombarding me with photos of her exploring your new house, now...I never thought I'd say this, but...I actually miss your photos..."

A small chuckle left his lips, but it quickly turned into a choked back sob. Talking about his best friend's family was painful, especially when it was he who should have dies instead. His death wouldn't have mattered so much; he had no family to look after, no wife to leave a widow, no child to leave fatherless... Roy clenched his fist and hit the gravestone. It wasn't fair!

He took his hand away and ran it through his hair, leaving it messier than it already was, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"I've been working on it, you know. The case, your..._murder_." That word was still hard for him to say; no matter how many murder cases he had investigated in the past, he never thought he would have to investigate that of his best friend. "I haven't managed to get very far, though. I've had to do it unofficially. I'm not supposed to be working on it...'emotionally involved' or something, you know that bull. Apparently there's another team investigating it, but _I've _never seen them around. The warehouse was even demolished just a few days after your..."

His voice trailed off and he looked down at the grass, pulling tufts of it out and playing with it. "The only leads I've got are your note, which I can't make heads or tails of, you know. And the other would be this..." His hand moved to the inside pocket of his jacket and his eyes widened when he couldn't find the object he was looking for. Desperately he searched all his pockets, but to no avail. He clenched his teeth and dropped his head in his hands.

"Shit...I must've dropped it when I ran into that woman..." Roy hit himself on the head with the palm of his hand. How could he have lost such a clue to finding his friend's murderer? He was sure there was significance to that ornament, he was sure! And now he had lost it, how useless!

Standing up quickly, Roy looked down at his friend's grave once more. "I should be going now...My break is nearly over, and I want to find that ornament." His eyes narrowed in determination. "I promise I will find who did this to you! I'll make it up to you..."

Turning on his heel, Roy sloshed his way back through the grass, the puddles that were beginning to form soaking the bottom of his trousers with mud as they splashed up on him.

xxx

"Ah Dammit."

Ed cursed as the mop bucket tipped over, spilling its contents and soaking the hem of his trousers and his foot; not to mention leaving a slowly growing puddle on the already wet floor. As he stepped forward to lift the bucket up he slid on the soapy floor and landed on his back with a thud. The mop, which flew out of his hand, landed on his face before rolling off with a clatter to the floor. Ed let out a groan and rubbed his nose where the mop had hit. "Damn mop..."

"Brother?" Al looked up from where he was sitting on the chair, polishing the ornaments which Ed had left in a line beside him; a task that didn't involve much strain as his back still hurt. "Are you okay?" He stifled a giggle as he seen Ed sprawled on the floor, giving him a thumbs up to signify that he was okay.

Carefully, Ed got up, almost slipping again as he did so and picked the mop and bucket up. "I'm fine." He said, scratching his head and looking at the mess of water on the floor. "But, I'll have to dry this before _he_ gets home..."

Al gulped and set the ornament he was polishing down beside him, letting the emerald eyed serpent clang against the others lightly. "Here, I'll help." He got up a little too quickly and hissed as pain ran up his back.

"No!" Ed almost shouted at him, concerned for his brother. "You keep polishing the ornaments. I can manage this on my own."

Al looked at his brother for a moment, before nodding and sitting down again, picking up the ornament and resuming his duty. Ed had been giving him all the less strenuous chores to do, so Al wouldn't have to move around as much and aggravate the wounds on his back.

Happy that his brother had returned to cleaning the tacky ornaments (there was a lot of serpents with jewels in their eyes, tacky even to Ed's tastes; but the Bradley family crest _was_ a serpent, so he could at least understand why he would have so many of them), Ed moved the mop bucket over to the side and started mopping the floor. At least he could try and even out the water over the whole floor, instead of drying it with a towel, starting again _and _cleaning the towel before Bradley got home.

The two brothers continued working in silence again, though Ed found himself wanting to trip and fall again, just to break the silence. Their previous conversation when he had fell before had been the most they had really talked since Bradley left; apart from when they had been arguing about Al doing the dishes (an argument Al had won, happily doing them while Ed sulked and fussed over his brother while doing the laundry).

They both jumped up, startled as the phone began to ring, its shrill call tearing through the air. They looked to the hall door, wondering whether or not they should pick it up. Would Bradley be angry if they did? Would he be angry if they didn't? Neither boy wanted to face his wrath again; he seemed to get angry over the smallest things...

Finally, Al got up and made his way over to the door, heading out into the hall. Ed dropped the mop and chased after him. "Wait, Al. What if Bradley doesn't want us answering the phone? He'll get mad again!" A shiver ran up Ed's spine as he thought of Bradley mad.

Looking up at his brother, Al simply replied. "What if he gets mad at us for not answering the phone? What if he's the one ringing?"

Ed gulped and stared at his brother, who reached out a shaky hand and picked up the receiver.

"H-hello?" Al shivered as the sound of the dialling tone reached his ears. He gently put down the receiver and looked over at Ed. "We were too late, anyway. They hung up."

Both boys looked down at the phone before making their way back into the kitchen to finish their chores. They wondered if Bradley would get angry at them for not answering the phone; then again, he had said he didn't want them outside to be seen by anyone (although they didn't quite understand why). Maybe the same went for the phone and people hearing them.

xxx

Riza sighed as the phone rang for the tenth time and gently put the receiver back down. It seemed as if nobody was home, Bradley probably had the boys wait in the car while he came in for the meeting. She had wanted to talk to them too, just to see how they were getting on, if things were okay.

"You coming?"

Turning around, Riza seen Havoc standing in the doorway, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. She just looked at him, but said nothing.

She picked up her coat again and grabbed the files on her desk, quickly checking that everything was there. Havoc raised an eyebrow as he noticed the name on the files.

"You're taking them?"

Riza nodded and walked out the door past him, ignoring the smoke which stung her nostrils as she inhaled it. "There's still a few things I need to fill in, and I want to make sure everything's in order."

Sighing, Havoc followed her out the door, not bothering to lock it; someone else would at the end of the day. He just looked at the back of Riza's head and shook his own. Trust her to bring work home on her day off. Or maybe she just didn't trust Bradley, he smirked.

When they got outside, they half sprinted over to Havoc's car, getting soaked in the downpour even though they hadn't had far to go. Once in, Havoc rolled the window down and threw his soggy cigarette out, silently cursing the weather.

They sat in silence as Havoc drove towards the road; both wanting to get to their respective homes and get dried off as soon as possible. Neither of them noticed the sleek black car still sitting in the parking lot, its occupant waiting for them to leave before stepping out into the rain.

xxx

Bradley put his umbrella down as he stepped into the dry building. He quickly made his way up the stairs following the familiar route he had made not ten minutes ago. He strode through the halls until he got to the office, turning the handle slowly. To his surprise it wasn't locked and the door swung open without hesitation. He had thought the woman would be sure to lock the office when she left.

Stepping into the office, he made his way over to the filing cabinets, opening the drawers until he found the one which contained the folders labelled with an 'E'. This wasn't the first time he had had to resort to searching through someone's office; bribes didn't work all the time. He swiftly searched through the folders and cursed when he failed to find the one he was looking for.

He moved to the desks next, searching through the drawers but still unable to find the file. Where would they have put it? He slammed the drawer shut and narrowed his eyes, letting a slight growl emit from his throat as he remembered seeing the woman holding a file when she left. Damn her for making things so difficult!

Bradley stormed out of the room, almost slamming the door shut and nearly knocking a short man with glasses over in the process. The man fixed his glasses on his nose and looked up at Bradley, recognising him straight away.

"Sir? What are you doing here?"

Quickly changing his glare and frown into a smile, Bradley chuckled lightly at the man. "My wedding ring must have fallen off, so I was just searching for it! Don't worry, I found it though, so I'll be on my way."

He quickly held up his hand so the man wouldn't notice it was ringless and walked off, heading back down to his car. He would have to get someone else to retrieve the file for him.

The man with the glasses stared after Bradley until he had disappeared around the corner. He shrugged and locked the door to the office before continuing on his way.

xxx

"There you are, Roy!" Rebecca breathed in relief as she met Roy coming out of the cemetery. "I figured you would be here." She walked over to him and moved her umbrella so it covered him as well. "You're soaked. You'll catch a cold, maybe you should go home and get dried off..."

Roy grunted in response and ran a hand through his hair, slightly surprised by how much water ran down his arm as he did so. "I guess you're right, I'll go and get dried off a bit before I head to the station."

He looked up at Rebecca, onyx eyes filled with sorrow and regret, before turning his head away from her again. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, I had a lot on my mind."

"It's fine." Rebecca smiled. "I know you still miss Hughes. But you still can't keep blaming yourself for what happened...It's not your fault."

Turning his head back to her sharply, Roy narrowed his eyes before softening them again as unwelcome memories came surfacing to his mind.

"It _is _my fault..." Roy looked up at the sky, allowing the rain drops to fall on his face and mix with a couple of stray tears rolling down his cheeks.

"_I_ was supposed to be the one on the case that night. Hughes was covering for _me._"

xxx

Listening to 'Battle Scherzo' while writing the mop part...

Didn't I say this would be longer? Hopefully it's still okay; maybe some questions have been cleared up. Roy is angsting...sorry . I'm not overly happy with the Roy parts...

**Spoilers for chapter 108**

Lolwhut? Roy and Riza got what? One panel together? Hayate got more action than them..._teenagers _got married and had kids before them. I know they said they'd throw away their happiness for the next gen. but... Arakawa better be planning something with the Mustang-tachi ¬.¬ /diehard royai fan


	4. Reminiscence

You can probably guess by the title... -_-;

**Chapter 4 : Reminiscence**

_An aggravated Detective eyed the phone on his desk with such disdain that it looked likely to burst into flames at any moment. It was just his luck; the night he had been called to such a pointless case just had to be the exact night he had planned a date with the latest in his list of girlfriends. This one, however, wasn't like the others who had all been so eager and easy to get. No, this girl was beautiful but she wanted something serious so she was wary of going on a date with Central's most promiscuous beast (as stunningly handsome as he was). As such, it had taken quite a long time to eventually get her to agree to go out, though her rules were a little harsh. Exactly the reason he didn't want to blow her off tonight; she would never agree to a rescheduling and he wouldn't get another chance with her. His reputation would be shattered._

_Letting out a pained moan, Roy let his head fall heavily on his desk, still staring at the phone with narrowed eyes. He still hadn't worked up the courage to call her up and cancel the date. Of course, after that he would have to call the restaurant and cancel their reservations, and he wouldn't get the money he had spent on the opera tickets back. It was all so much hassle for one pointless case. Stewing in his own self pity, Roy stayed in his position for quite a while, listening to the clock on his desk._

'_Tick...tick...' _

"_Roy!"_

_Startled, Roy jumped up, almost falling off his seat in the process. He managed to save himself in time, though and emitted a low growl in response to the irritating voice of his best friend. How did he always manage to sneak up on him like that? "Hughes..." he acknowledged, voice still resembling a growl. "What do you want?"_

_Hughes just put on a mock pout and moved from his position in the doorway, going up to Roy and slapping him friendlily on the back. "What? A man can't even drop by to talk to his best friend anymore? That's a shame." He looked at the floor and shook his head in fake sorrow as he said this before smiling again and looking down at Roy. "Going to the pub tonight? I've finally got a night off and you just have to see my newest pictures of Elicia. She's so cute!"_

_Indicating to the pile of disorganised papers on his desk, Roy shook his head and sighed. "No. Sorry, as much as I want to listen to your countless stories of your daughter, I have to go investigate a case." There was just a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke. _

_Roy leaned back in his chair and put his arm over his eyes, letting out a pained moan. "Besides, I __**had**__ a date. But now I have to cancel because of such a pointless case!" _

_Taking a seat on the edge of Roy's desk, Hughes looked at Roy in pity. "Got lugged with the noises complaints around the warehouses, huh?" _

"_What else? I don't see why we have to investigate it anymore. They never turn out to be anything but children playing."_

_A chuckle escaped form Hughes' lips and he turned to Roy with wide, curious eyes. "Really? Are you sure? Think about it, Roy. We've been getting complaints like these every month for the past, what, seven months?"_

"_Yeah, so?" Roy asked, tone bored and uninterested. He sat further back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, placing his feet on the desk. "What's that got to do with anything? The kids are just being pests."_

_Standing up and placing his hands on the desk, Hughes leant in closer to Roy. "Use your brain, Roy. Don't you think that's a bit too...routine? Do you think these kids are werewolves or something that they only come out once a month? There's too much of a pattern. Something else must be going on." _

"_If there was something else going on, we would have found it out by now. But every officer who's checked it out has confirmed it to be loud children playing where they shouldn't be. Maybe they're...organised kids." Roy shrugged, not really interested in what Hughes was saying. It did seem suspicious, but they would have found something before, surely._

"_You don't get it. Our officers probably didn't even investigate much. Just seen the kids and told them to scram. That could be the diversion. So the officers didn't actually investigate." Hughes moved away from the desk and fixed his glasses on his nose. "Roy, how about I come with you? I want to investigate it more. To see what's really going on. I bet it's a drug ring or something."_

_A sly smile appeared on Roy's lips and he looked up at Hughes with devious eyes. He had an idea. "Really? You wanna go investigate? Then be my guest. I don't want to go. I'll head out on my date and you can cover for me since you're so interested." It was a perfect solution to his problem, that way, they'd both be happy._

"_Hmmm? You wouldn't go? If it's something big, I'd need back up. It'd be better for both of us to go..." _

"_C'mon Hughes. Do a guy a favour, here. You want to investigate and I want to go on my date. I'm not at all interested in this case. I'd only hold you back. Besides, this is the love of my life. You don't want your best friend to miss his chance at love, right? Can you really live with yourself?"_

"_Love of your life, huh?" Hughes smirked. "I'm pretty sure you said that last time you asked me to cover your shift. And the time before that. I might be getting tired of this. As much as I want to investigate, it'd be better if we both went. Aren't you the least bit curious about what's really going on?"_

_Roy pouted and looked at his friend like a child who had been told they couldn't go to the fair. "But this time, I'm sure of it! As much as I want to see you proved wrong, I've been trying to get this girl to go out with me for weeks. I'll lose my chance with her if I cancel. I'll even do any paperwork on the case tomorrow, just cover me tonight. You said you wanted to investigate, so you either go alone, or not at all." Eyes turned mock pleading now, Hughes wouldn't resist going on the case anyway, no matter how much he seemed to not want to go alone. "So, cover for me?"_

_Letting out a sigh, Hughes shook his head and took his glasses off to rub them. "Jeez, Roy, you really want to go out with this woman, don't you?" At this, Roy nodded fervently, resulting in a smile from Hughes. "I guess, if you're really so interested in her, I guess I can go alone. But this is the last time." He held a serious expression as he pushed his glasses back up. "And I expect to be best man at the wedding!"_

_Jumping up off his seat, Roy laughed and cheerfully patted his best friend on the back. "Thanks. But, you're joking about this being the last time, right? I mean, you'll need to cover for me on our honeymoon, and any anniversaries, birthdays, Mondays... Duties of a best man. It's really an honour."_

_Hughes laughed and shook his head. He knew there was a slim chance of this being Roy's future wife, but still. "Looks like I'll have a lot on my plate. All that work...I swear, Roy, you'll be the death of me..."_

_Roy chuckled at his friends joke and patted him on the back again. "I'm not that bad of a slave driver, you know." He walked to the door and grabbed his coat, Hughes following him. "Now, I better go get ready for my date. Have fun on the case. You can tell me all about your failure to find anything tomorrow night at the pub."_

_Hughes smirked as they walked out the door. "No, I'm sure I'll be telling you my success story. And you'll get to see even more pictures of little Elicia!" He closed the door after him, leaving the office in loneliness as their continued conversation faded down the corridor. _

_The world was unaware that the silence and darkness left in the office now would continue to linger, spreading from the detective's mind even months later._

xxx

"It's ironic..." Roy said as Rebecca sat in silence, listening to Roy's tale as the rain battered against the windscreen. They had sat in her car while Roy relived that night, in order to avoid getting even more soaked by the rain. "After that, we stopped sending people out to investigate the complaints. But when an officer was killed, wouldn't it make more sense to send out more forces? Obviously, there was something else going on, so why did they stop the investigations? It's too fishy..."

Roy sighed and looked out the window, Hughes had been right. If only he'd gone with him, would things have turned out different?

Now that Roy was finished, Rebecca took her chance to speak. "They're still looking into Hughes'...death, you know that. But whoever done it must be more wary, cautious now. The warehouses have been demolished, they can't do whatever it was they were doing there anymore..." she kept her voice low, it was easy to see why Roy would blame himself. "But still, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know that things would turn out-"

Roy cut her off, turning to glare at her. "Hughes told me! He was convinced something was going on! Of course I should have known, he's always right about these things. I should have just gone with him, but I was too selfish!" He should have trusted his friend. He should never have abandoned him. How foolish had he been?

Softening his voice a bit, Roy looked at Rebecca with cold eyes. "Stop telling me how it wasn't my fault. I should have trusted my friend. I _know_ it was my fault and you're not going to convince me otherwise. So stop trying."

Rebecca bit her lip and looked away. He could be irritatingly stubborn sometimes. She knew that he would continue to blame himself; there was nothing she could do about it, he wouldn't listen. Besides, it obviously didn't make him feel better. It was as if he _wanted_ to blame himself.

"I'm sorry..." she turned back to him with an apologetic gaze. "I won't mention it again."

"It's okay...I'm sorry for snapping at you, you're only trying to help." He sighed again and rubbed at his eyes. "I should probably get dried off before heading back to the office; I'm already late, nothing wrong with being even later."

He didn't mention anything about what she said about the warehouses. She would probably (correctly) assume that he was investigating it. But he had thought of all that before...the explanations didn't add up, how could the police investigate Hughes' murder when the scene had been demolished? Roy was intent on figuring it all out, for Hughes as well as himself. And he was determined on finding the murderer.

He made to get out of the car, but was stopped by Rebecca's hand on his arm. "It's pouring out there. I'll drive you home and wait for you. You haven't had any lunch yet, have you? I'll get us some sandwiches too."

Letting go of the handle, Roy sat back properly in the seat. "Whatever..."

He leaned his elbow against the bottom of the window and rested his head on his hand as he looked out in silence at the grey surroundings flashing past. Rebecca remained equally silent, focussing on the road as the pouring rain impaired her field of vision.

More memories of that night bubbled to the surface of Roy's mind but remained unspoken as he allowed himself to relive them.

xxx

_It was in the early hours of the morning when Roy's phone started to ring, shrill enough to awaken him from his short-lived slumber. _

_His date had went surprisingly well, considering how he had managed to turn up nearly ten minutes late. She had, however, turned down his request to head over to his apartment and perhaps spend the night. _

_Even so, they had parted ways nearly a couple of hours after midnight; he dropping her off at her house before continuing to his own. _

_As such, he was obviously grumpy at being woken up when he had only been asleep for a few hours. _

_Thoughts of who could possibly be ringing at this ungodly hour ran through his mind before settling on one person. Hughes. Roy let a smirk cross his face as he imagined Hughes ringing to tell him how much of a failure his 'mission' had been. He only cursed himself for not betting with Hughes on that._

_It was only when he picked up the phone, answering with a weary grunt by way of a greeting that his heart stopped beating and the breath caught in his throat._

_Listening to the person on the phone had been a challenge at first as Roy attempted to keep his eyes open, rubbing at them with his fists. Two words were all it took to wake him. "...Hughes...killed..."_

_Roy had initially thought it was a joke. Some sick prank played on him by an even sicker person. Unfortunately he recognised the voice of the superintendent and he was not the type of man to appreciate any kind of joke, never mind one such as this. _

_What he did after finishing the call was mostly a blur to Roy. The shock of hearing about his best friend being killed was hard to comprehend and it was all that filled his mind at the time. He only remembered pulling on trousers and a shirt over his boxers and lifting his coat before heading out the door and speeding towards the crime scene. It was as if his body had been turned on to automatic._

_Arriving at the scene, Roy hardly stopped his car before jumping out and running past the officers and into the warehouse where Hughes had been killed. _

_An officer met him and led him up a staircase to an upper level of the warehouse which held wooden crates and a few shelves for storage, but was open, providing a view of the ground level. _

_His heart pounded so hard and loud in his chest that he hardly heard the sound of the officer's voice, presumably telling him details of the death. He didn't want to hear them at this point in time, anyway._

_As Roy neared the crates behind which the body lay, he slowed his pace and almost tip-toed towards it. The other officers who had been collecting evidence from around the area and talking about the death, stepped back to give Roy space while he seen the body. They all knew of the almost brotherly relationship the two men had and knew how much Hughes' death would hurt Roy. It would be best to leave him alone for a little while._

_Roy moved slowly behind the crates, noticing the blood on the ground around them. When he finally saw the body, he stood back and let a gasp escape, clenching his fists to prevent any tears falling. To see his friend covered in so much blood...it wasn't easy, something like that could never be an easy thing to see. _

_He moved closer and let himself drop beside the body of Hughes, most of the evidence had been collected already and, frankly, Roy didn't really care if he was disturbing the scene, He was far too shocked._

_Hughes was lying sprawled on the floor, face down and turned to the side, with one arm stretched out above his head and the other so that his hand was level with his face. He had been stabbed at least three times; once in the arm which appeared to have held his gun (which had been lying on the floor a good distance away, as if it had been kicked to the side) and twice in the gut and chest. _

_If it was any consolation, the doctors would later tell Roy, Hughes had dies relatively quickly from his wounds so he hadn't had the pain of a slow death bleeding out and unable to do anything to stop it. This hadn't been any kind of consolation to Roy._

_No longer able to see his friend in such a state, Roy stood up and made to walk away when a flash of red caught his eye. He walked over and picked a small, bronze object up. It held a small carving of a snake of some sort, on ruby eye glaring up at him. Looking around for the other officers, Roy dropped the piece in his pocket and turned to walk towards them, passing Hughes' body on the way._

_But as he moved past, he noticed that the hand which had been level with Hughes' face was clutching something. Roy moved closer and knelt down, gently uncurling Hughes' fingers from around whatever he had been holding, revealing it to be a photograph of some sort, covered in Hughes' own blood._

_Roy held the bloodied photograph in his hand, looking at it with sad eyes. It was a picture of Hughes standing with Gracia and Elicia, a huge grin plastered over his face. He smiled sadly, trust Hughes to clutch onto the photo in his dying moments. He made to tuck the photo into his friend's pocket, but something made him stop. Was that...writing on the back?_

_Turning it over, Roy's eyes widened. On the back of the photo was a message which appeared to be written in blood. But it was terribly smudged and he could only make out a few things. 'Bad...eye? Drama...? War.' _ _The last word was the only one he could really make out, the rest making no sense as they were far too smudged. He could have shouted in frustration, there was no way he could decipher this. But if Hughes had went to the trouble of leaving the message, it must mean he had found out something big. _

_It was clear now that Hughes had been right earlier. There was something else going on. If only he hadn't doubted him!_

_Roy jumped as an investigator tapped him on his shoulder and he pocketed the picture and made his way out of the crime scene, watching as the coroners placed his best friend in a black body bag and carried him away. _

_He wouldn't mention the note or the little piece of what he would assume to be an ornament of some kind to the other officers. He would investigate this on his own; it had been his best friend who had died and he wanted them to be dealt his kind of justice. _

_He would find out the meaning of that message. And he would find out who had done this. Roy was sure of that, at least._

xxx

The rain did nothing to help lessen Bradley's foul mood as he stomped up to the doors of his manor, a servant hurrying to keep up with him and keep the umbrella he held over Bradley's head.

He stopped in the hallway once he entered his home and didn't even wait for the servant who was now putting the umbrella in its stand to help him off with his coat before he had it off himself and flung over in the general direction of the coat rack.

Bradley walked over to the small table which held his phone and picked up the receiver, stopping when he noticed two pairs of wide, worried looking eyes staring up at him. He slammed the receiver back in its cradle and beckoned them over towards him.

"I suppose you two have the chores I left you done?" he asked in a harsh tone of voice, glaring down at the boys as they nodded vigorously. Though they still seemed to be quite worried.

Al started to say something, but Ed cut him off before the words even came out. "The phone rang today while no one was in. We weren't sure if we should answer it or not. I decided to pick it up but whoever had been ringing had hung up by then. I'm sorry!" Ed spoke quickly, scared of what Bradley's reaction would be but wanting to protect his younger brother from further harm. Al's eyes widened at his brother, but he said nothing, the pain in his back was still too sore for him to want another beating. Especially over something so trivial.

Much to both boys surprise, Bradley didn't make a move to hurt Ed. Instead, he stood up and turned around a bit before turning back to Al, swinging his hand through and back-handing the boy across the cheek as he did so. The force was enough to make Al lose his balance and fall to the floor.

"I know it was you, boy." He spoke to Al in a cold tone, ignoring Ed. "I said before, don't be so weak! Letting your brother take the blame for you...that's just cowardice! You need to be tougher than that! Now get up!" Bradley shouted at the boy and glared down at him while he picked himself off the floor before turning his attention to Ed as well. "Now, both of you get to you room!"

Neither boy needed further encouragement to leave Bradley's presence and both scurried up the stairs like frightened rats. Bradley watched the boys go and waited until he heard their door shut before picking up the receiver again. Though he had to admit, the older one showed some guts, at least.

He swiftly dialled a number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up, all the while tapping his foot impatiently on the marble floor.

After what seemed an age, the person finally picked up and Bradley stood straight at his voice, even though he was only speaking over the phone.

"Yes. It's me." He started, voice quite respectful. "About the newest ones...I failed to get them destroyed and there's no chance of me getting them now." A pause while the person on the other end spoke, seemingly annoyed. "Yes. I know. There are some in Central...The woman took them, I'm fairly certain she lives around there...they might be brought back, but they'll have to follow and see...Soon, I know. I'll get them by tomorrow...Sir."

Bradley relaxed a bit as he set the receiver back down. Things could be easily fixed, now he just needed to make another phone call.

xxx

Riza let out a sigh as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She had still managed to get soaked in the short distance from the car to the doors of the apartment building; she had thought there would be no need for an umbrella if she would only be out for a few seconds. The rain had soon proved her wrong.

Entering her apartment, Riza placed her umbrella in the holder and carefully shut the door behind her. Something black bounded towards her and she smiled as she reached down to pet the little dog. "Hello Hayate." She greeted her pet in a soft voice, smile increasing as the dog licked her hand happily. "I bet you're looking for lunch, huh? I'll get it ready now."

She took off her coat and placed in on the hanger before slipping out of her wet shoes and into a pair of slippers which sat by the door, ready for instances such as this.

Moving into the kitchen, Riza set the files she had been carrying on the small kitchen table before pulling a can of dog food out of the cupboard, opening it with a tin-opener and pouring it into the dog's food bowl. She picked up the water bowl and filled it with fresh water, setting it down and scruffing Hayate's head lovingly as he dug in happily to his meal.

She watched the little dog eat for a while before standing up and stretching. She needed to get out of her wet clothes before she caught a cold. A nice hot shower was just what she needed right now, she could worry about the files –and Bradley- later.

* * *

Omg...this took so long, I'm sorry v.v

I'm not overly happy with this chapter, but...meh. Things might actually start to get interesting in the next few chapters, yay! So, it wasn't all a flashback type thing...Bradley, Ed, Al and Riza all got a little bit at the end. But I felt the flashback should go here, sorry if it seems too much/oddly placed. And I figured I would separate my notes and the story better, hence the line...

On a side note, it felt so weird passing the 11th/12th without seeing a new chapter of fma...how depressing.. D:


	5. Upping the Ante

**Chapter 5: Upping the Ante**

It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on the documents which were laid out in front of her. The incessant tapping of a pen against the hardwood of the desk was really starting to get on Rebecca's nerves and she finally had enough of it, banging her hands against her own desk and using them to help herself out of her seat while shooting a small glare at the man sitting across from her.

"Look, if you're not going to be of any help, then could you at least stop tapping that pen? There's a lot of paperwork with this case, you know."

Roy looked up from the report he had been only half-reading and turned his bored looking gaze to the woman. The rain at the windows had lightened somewhat but the bad weather had him in quite a bad mood. "Why bother with it, anyway? We're not going to be on the case for long, surely you know that."

Rebecca glanced up at him for a moment before looking back at her –_their- _paperwork. "I know!" she replied indignantly, pursing her lips. "But don't you want to find out a little something before that? I mean, with all these bombings...we could be on the verge of a war!"

"Don't be ridiculous, I really doubt that any real terrorists would manage to make their way right into Central City. The Western and Northern borders are closed and guarded and there hasn't been any trouble in the South. The only unrest is some border skirmishes to the North and West, but that doesn't affect Central. If anything, these culprits would be some radicals who oppose the military. And what can they do? At worst, it will lead to riots in the streets, but the military can deal with that quick enough." Roy still held an expression of boredom on his face as he leant his head on his hand, elbow resting on the table, and stared lazily at Rebecca. Even his voice had been a lazy drawl, despite the importance of the subject.

In truth, Roy was quite bored of this same story. So radicals had blown up a few buildings; it would have been –and was- interesting the first few times, but it was always empty buildings, buildings which were far enough out of the way –actually an amazing feat in Central- so as not to affect other inhabited buildings. The military had been taking authority on such cases ever since one of the first bombings had happened dangerously close to the barracks; it was of no concern of the police force. And even if officers got such a case, it would soon be taken off them for the military to investigate. In Roy's view, that meant it wasn't something which he should be concerned about; it _was_ a problem for the military, but there had been no deaths and few casualties so far so it was only right to blame bombings on the radical groups who opposed the military. They wouldn't be much danger as many of these groups were 'for the people' and were careful not to unnecessarily involve innocent citizens.

Rebecca just stared open-mouthed at Roy and his casual attitude towards the case. Casual might not even be the right word for it; he didn't seem to even _care_. Sure, if she hadn't just read over the report, she might have had nearly the same attitude (though it would have had her a little worried, it always did); the so-called 'Red-Faction', a group of radicals in Central, were quite careful _not _to involve the public in their attacks against the military and kept even deaths of military officers to a minimum, in fact, she couldn't remember _any_ deaths caused by them (they weren't quite skilled enough to successfully pull off assassinations on the higher ranking military officers). So this case was really quite different.

"Haven't you even read the report yet?" Of course, she already knew the answer without even bothering to ask, but this was more to do with her own worries and shock.

Roy just blinked at her before stretching out his arms and leaning back in his chair. "No point, it'll just be the same."

"But it's _not_ the same! That's what I'm trying to tell you. This time, two people were killed in the blast and three were seriously injured. It couldn't be the R.F; they're usually more careful to keep casualties to a minimum. Means that the public isn't entirely against them. But this..." She bit her lip, reading the report again. If the R.F. had suddenly decided to up-the-ante, or if it was indeed the work of terrorists from one of the surrounding countries...either way, it was worrying.

By now, Roy had moved to a more upright and alert position. As with Rebecca, he was worried even if it was the R.F, but a nagging voice in the back of his mind told him it was something bigger and he had a vague thought that it could possibly have _some _connection to Hughes' murder, even if he couldn't quite explain why. Even so, he stayed quiet and listened to Rebecca.

"Apparently, among the victims were two military officers. A Brigadier General was killed outright and a Lieutenant is in a serious condition in the hospital; they don't know if he'll make it or not. The other three victims are just citizens who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. One was a small child, also dead at the scene. The blast occurred in the early hours of the morning; police have been investigating. Happened very close to a military housing estate..."

Interest now fully piqued, Roy moved quickly over to where Rebecca was and lifted the papers, reading over them as if to make sure she had been saying it right. "Two military officers...near a military estate...and the military _still_ haven't taken over the investigation?"

Rebecca snatched the papers back and looked up at him. "Like I said: we could be on the verge of war! I heard that the military's been stretched pretty thin lately. There's more and more conflict to the Northern and Eastern borders and many of their soldiers have been sent out there. They've been worried about all these bombings too, apparently and it seems they're in quite a state of disarray, though they'd be keeping that quiet from the public."

Roy was only half listening as he narrowed his eyes at the papers; if the military weren't going to, it would be a chance for them to investigate. It might lead them to finding out something much bigger than the R.F...

Roy blinked. Something bigger...There was that nagging voice in the back of his mind again. Could there really be a connection?

Hardening his gaze, Roy set the papers down and turned towards the door, fetching his coat from the coat-rack. "It's not just as stormy as it was and this is more important, anyway. If we're going to do some investigating, it had better be quick, before the military declare it 'off-limits' to the police force. You coming?"

It took a while for Rebecca to adjust to Roy's new attitude towards this case, but when she did she merely nodded and hurried towards the door, grabbing her coat and pulling it on as she followed behind him.

She'd be damned if she was going to let Roy Mustang take the credit should they manage to find the culprits.

xxx

"-night? Good...I'll be expecting them tomorrow, then...Don't mess up."

Bradley set the phone back onto the cradle and stood back, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Tomorrow, at least, there would be one less thing for him to worry about. Not that he had never had to resort to this before, but in most cases he would have been able to avoid it with a decent amount of money.

He sighed as he went over to the bar and made himself a glass of whiskey. The rising tensions at the borders had him a bit worried; if they were ready to declare war...he wouldn't have much time left.

"Excuse me, sir."

Bradley looked up from his drink as he heard the voice of the butler and nodded for the man to speak. The butler walked closer and spoke in a low but quite urgent voice.

"There was a call earlier when you were out. I was told to pass the message on to you. They said things are going better than they had initially expected. They'll be taking action in about a month. You have as long as that."

Bradley's eye widened somewhat angrily and he set the glass down on the surface of the bar with a bang. "One month? Do they really expect me to have everything ready by then? They're very resilient; it'll take longer than that!"

"But it will be much easier for us if you succeed. We may be able to bring it down from the inside and that will put us at a terrific advantage. You've done well so far, things have been going smoothly and they're all working well. But it's much more important this time."

"I know that! Can't they give us a little more time?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. Those were the orders and failure is not an option. They'll be ready then, even if you're not. You have one month to get them ready _and _to get to that man. Then, when the time comes... I assume you know the consequences if you don't pull this off."

With that, the butler bowed and walked out of the room when Bradley gave him a curt nod.

Once he was gone, Bradley made himself another glass of whiskey and knocked it back in one go. So he had been correct in thinking that his time was short.

But _one month? _Things would have to be far more arduous from now on.

xxx

"Ed...I'm sorry..."

"What are you sorry about? I'm the one who couldn't even lie properly."

Al looked over at his brother who was lying on his bead with his arms behind his head staring at the roof. He didn't bother answering Ed; they both knew it wasn't Ed's fault. Bradley was just so strict and angry...

Ed had tried to protect him from Bradley (even over something so _stupid_) and Al had messed it up and probably gotten them into more trouble. He was sure Bradley had seen him about to confess before Ed interrupted; that's how he had known. He just hoped that Ed wouldn't get into trouble for covering.

After a few moments of silence where Al sat on his own bed and brought his knees up to his chest, he finally spoke again, in a much quieter tone of voice.

"Ed...do you think Miss Hawkeye and Mr. Havoc really don't care about us? They were so nice..."

Ed rolled over onto his side and looked at Al, narrowing his eyes in thought. "I know...I don't think they were just acting. And I certainly wouldn't put it past _Bradley_" the name was spat out as if some kind of foul poison. "to lie to us about something like that. The man's horrible; he seems to want us to be sad..."

"Yeah..." Al agreed, Bradley seem to want them to be as miserable as possible but neither brother could guess why. "Hey, Ed? I miss Miss Hawkeye and Mr. Havoc."

"They were nice. Even if it was an act, it's better than being here with _him."_

"Mmm. But..." Al buried his head in his arms which were resting atop his knees, trying to hold back tears. "...I miss mum even more..."

Closing his eyes, Ed turned his head away. "I know...I do too. But...we still have each other..."

And, though separated by the space between the two beds, each boy took a comfort in the presence of the other as they sat in silence.

Thos comfort, however, was soon broken as a creak from outside in the hallway warned them of someone's approach and both of them shot upright, Al giving a small hiss of pain as he moved the still-sore wounds too quickly.

The doorknob twisted and the door was opened to reveal Bradley's form as he stepped into the room and inspected the boys with his one good eye.

"There's work to be done."

He turned on his heel and motioned for the boys to follow, which they quickly did after sharing a wary glance with each other.

Was this punishment or something else...?

xxx

The steady rain had turned into only a light drizzle by the time Roy and Rebecca arrived at the scene of the bombing. Unfortunately, it didn't look like they would be able to do much by way of an investigation, anyway.

The policemen who had been inspecting the site were now standing well back as men in hard hats cleared the rubble into the back of a nearby truck. It seemed that they had already knocked down whatever parts of the building that had been still standing, as well.

Roy narrowed his eyes as he got out of the car and furiously strode over to one of the policemen.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, irritation clear in his voice. "Who ordered this?"

The young policeman nervously took a step back as Roy came up to him and answered in a shaky voice.

"W-we don't know, sir. These men just drove up and told us to stand back because they had orders and permission to clear away all of this rubble. We tried to stop them, but they showed us the documents and they were legit so we had no choice but to..."

Roy had stopped listening by this time and was looking over at the workers, a frown painted on his face. Rebecca looked over at him, just as annoyed as he was.

"So, what will we do now, Roy?" she asked, but her question was ignored as Roy was already making his way over to the men. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Rebecca shared a quick glance with the other officer and followed after him.

Roy purposefully made his way towards the truck which was decorated with the company's name and tagline in big letters: "Both sides of the coin – ARMSTRONG demolition and construction!" The word 'Armstrong' had a few pink diamond shapes around it as well as a blonde curl and moustache for decoration. Both features perfectly matched the well-built (and shirtless) man who was standing talking to some of the other workers. Despite having done some of the work himself, the man was not wearing a hard hat or any of the other regulation safety apparel.

None of this concerned Roy much (though he was sure he had heard the name of the company somewhere important before) and he walked right up to the man managing to look authorative despite the man being much taller and more muscular than he was.

"Excuse me. I presume you're Mr. Armstrong; the man in charge of this."

Armstrong motioned for the workers to get back to work before turning around and replying. "That would be me: Alex Louis Armstrong! And our company has been passed down through the Armstrong family for generations!"

"Yes, yes." Roy tapped his foot impatiently as the man started to make a few poses. "But I would really like to ask you a few questions, namely: what are you doing clearing away the site of a crime before the police or even the military have had a chance to investigate it?"

Armstrong stopped making poses and looked down at the raven-haired man before holding out some documents. "We've been ordered to clear it away. This building is on private property and as such the owner of this property can request this. Besides, the Police-Chief has authorised this."

He flipped over a few pages and pointed to a signature that did indeed belong to the Chief-of-Police. Roy sighed in aggravation, why hadn't they been informed of this? And of course, the military weren't in charge of this case yet, so it was fine for the Chief to give permission for this.

In any case, there might still be some information to get out of this, like: "whose land is this, then? I would have thought it belonged to the military, saying as it's so close to military housing."

Armstrong set the documents back in the cab of the truck and shook his head. "No, they don't own this land. And I'm afraid I can't tell you who the land does belong to. I'm sorry."

Roy merely nodded in response and sighed again. Looks like he wouldn't be able to get information after all. At least they would still be able to talk to some of the victims, but first he would rather find out who this land belonged to and why the name of the Armstrong Company seemed to ring some warning bells in his head.

Rebecca bowed her head at Armstrong before turning to follow Roy. "What now?"

"Now, I'm going back to the office, there's something I need to look up. You can make your way to the hospital and see if you can talk to some of the victims. Then we can tell each other what we found out, if anything."

Rebecca nodded and made her way over to one of the other officers to borrow their car as Roy went to his own. He sat in it for a while, watching the men clear away the rubble. It just didn't make sense for the Chief to have authorised this when two members of the military had been killed. There had to be some other reason for him to do that...

xxx

Bradley had led the two boys to what must have been the basement; it was cold and brightly lit by artificial lighting as there were no windows.

It wasn't overly large, though. The basement seemed to be separated into different rooms just like the rest of the house. The room they were currently in held a few different kinds of punching bags, it seemed that Bradley must have been into boxing at some point.

Ed and Al were quite nervous, Al was visibly shaking and Ed was looking around with wide eyes. They didn't know why Bradley had brought them here, but so far their experience with the man had not been pleasant so they weren't expecting anything enjoyable.

Bradley surprised them by turning round and giving them a big smile, lightly hitting one of the punching bags beside him.

"How would you boys like to learn how to box?"

His tone was much gentler than it usually was and both boys' eyes lit up. For Ed, his nervousness had been replaced by excitement at getting to try something like boxing, but Al was still shaking.

Seeming 'nice' for once, Bradley got both boys kitted out and told them how to punch properly before telling then to practice on the punching bags. Both boys were quite thrilled to be trying something new at this point and were happily punching away and practising.

Sitting away from them, Bradley looked up as the butler came down the stairs with a tray of sandwiches and juice for the boys along with a glass of whiskey for Bradley. He looked over at the two before looking back to Bradley.

"So, you're starting with boxing?" he asked with a curious tone, watching the as the boys struggled when the punching bag got the better of Al.

"They need to know how to throw a punch before we do anything." Bradley grabbed his glass and took a sip of it, sighing as the warm liquid made its way down his throat.

"Yes, but you should be aware of time. Are you giving them the stuff yet?"

"I know, there'll be a lot of work to do but at least that'll be a test of their endurance. And no, not yet. I want to cover the basics before starting them on that."

"I see, a wise choice, maybe. But the sooner you start with it, the easier it'll be for them later on."

Bradley said nothing as the butler made his way back up the stairs, instead watching the boys for another while before calling them over to eat.

This wasn't the way he usually did things, but with limited time, he really didn't have any other way.

xxx

As soon as he got back to the station, Roy headed straight for the records room; there was still something about this case, he just had to find out who the land belonged to. Something was telling him that if he figured out this case, he would be closer to finding out about Hughes...

He cursed as he rifled through the drawers of various files and folders, unable to find what he was looking for. Another officer in the room gave him a dirty look but he ignored it and continued on his search. The officer gave him another look and walked over to him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're looking into that bombing, yeah?"

Roy gave an affirmative grunt for an answer and continued searching through the files until he finally found the one he wanted.

"I'm afraid the Chief has suspended that investigation. Didn't you hear? It'd be best not to continue with it and avoid getting into any trouble."

At this, Roy turned and looked at the man with wide eyes, still holding the folder he had wanted. His eyes widened further as he suddenly realised what had been nagging at him. He stayed still and quiet for a while before mentally shaking himself and mumbling a distracted "Thanks for letting me know."

With the folder still in his hand, Roy walked out of the room without another word and headed towards his office. Since they weren't supposed to be investigating, Roy thought it best to look over this in private.

When Roy got to his office, he shut the door and threw the folder on his desk. He sat heavily down on his chair and covered his face with his hands, letting out a deep sigh. This was just like that time. That's what he had realised when the officer had told him that the case had been suspended. Just like Hughes' case. And Armstrong...that was the company which had demolished the warehouse where Hughes had been... Could it really be connected?

Taking his hands away from his face, Roy looked down at the folder and opened it, lifting out the documents. Could he be another step closer to finding out who had killed Hughes and figuring out what Hughes had meant in that note? His hands were shaky as he rifled through the papers to find exactly what he was looking for...

The shrill ring of the phone made him jump and Roy shot a glare in its direction. With a grunt of annoyance, he slammed the papers on his desk and reached over to answer the phone. Whoever was calling had better have good reason for it.

"Detective Roy Mustang." His greeting was blunt; he was irritated that he had been interrupted.

"Roy, it's Dr. Knox. I was checking the two dead bodies found at the scene of the bombing; to identify them. And there was something...odd about the child."

Roy sat up straighter in his chair. "Really? What was wrong?"

"I don't know if we should be discussing this over the phone, Roy. Perhaps you could make your way over here and we could talk of it further?"

Roy grunted; it was probably safer to talk about it in person, especially since the case had been suspended and besides, who knew who could be listening in to the phone conversations?

"Right." He answered. "I'm on my way there." Not waiting for Knox's response, Roy hung up the phone and looked longingly over at the documents on his desk.

Deciding that they would still be here when he came back, Roy shoved them into the top drawer of his desk and locked it before grabbing his coat once again and heading to the coroner's office.

xxx

The rest of Riza's day had been rather uneventful one. She hadn't wanted to go back out in the rain after her shower and so had stayed in, finishing what she had needed to do on the Elric forms and leaving them on top of the little desk in her room.

The rest of her time had been spent tidying up around her apartment, listening to the news on the radio and reading a book while scratching Hayate behind the ears. The dog had missed his daily walk, but he didn't seem to mind, instead curling up at his master's feet or following her around as she did her housework.

Despite that, Riza had actually found her day to have been quite full and so was ready for bed early (she had to get up early in the morning, anyway). As she was just about to get into bed, her phone rang and she grumbled a bit before going to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Riza, it's me." The voice was immediately recognisable as Havoc's and Riza let out a sigh before bringing her hand to her forehead.

"What is it, Havoc?" she answered in a tone that seemed to say 'you'd better not be wasting my time' (a tone which Havoc seemed to pick up on).

"Sorry for bothering you. I just thought you'd want to know. I went back to the office because I had forgotten the lighter my ex gave me and noticed that your desk was a bit –a lot messier than it usually is. I asked if anyone had been in and Fuery told me that he had met Bradley coming out of it."

Riza eyes widened a bit; why would Bradley be in their office? "What was he doing? How did he get in?"

"Well...I musta forgot to lock it, sorry..." Riza could tell he was scratching the back of his neck as if he was a child admitting to something he had done wrong as he said this. "But Fuery said that he was looking for his wedding ring or something...But I don't see reason for him looking through the desks, that man must have been looking for something else...But I just thought you should know about it..."

"Yes, Thank you...see you tomorrow." Riza gently set the phone down in its cradle and sighed, turning away and going back to her bedroom.

She closed the door and leaned against it, eyes narrowed as she caught sight of the Elric files on her desk. She had already been wary of Bradley and didn't trust him. And she couldn't recall ever seeing a ring on his finger. It was so soon after he asked about the Elric files as well... he was suddenly glad that she had decided to take them home with her.

xxx

It must have been the very early hours of the morning when Riza awoke to the sound of her bedroom door creaking open. She had finally managed to fall asleep last night despite the questions and worries about Bradley and the Elric brothers buzzing around in her head. What did that man want?

The door creaked a little more and at first Riza thought it was just Hayate coming into the bedroom, but then she caught sight of a human-shaped silhouette moving into her room.

She stayed quiet and still for a while, wondering if she was just seeing things in the darkness, but the light of the moon shining in from the curtain less window outlined the shape of a person who had stopped and was now facing the desk.

As quiet as she could, Riza got out of bed and started to move towards the person. But she hadn't even gotten two steps when a floorboard creaked beneath her feet and the figure swung around with the files in their hands.

The figure ran towards the door but Riza managed to get thee at the same time and grabbed the figure's wrist, surprised at how small it seemed and how short the figure seemed to be, simultaneously flicking on the lightswitch which was located on the wall beside the door.

Riza gasped as the light allowed her to see just who had been breaking into her house and she let go of the figure's wrist.

It was a young girl who couldn't have been older than nine or ten. The girl was dressed in quite grubby clothes and her own grimy body looked terribly thin.

The girl stumbled back when Riza let go of her wrist and was now standing just a few feet away from Riza, who was blocking the doorway. She clutched the files to her chest with one hand and stared up at Riza with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Riza was speechless and stared back at the girl, opening and shutting her mouth a few times before she finally managed to get some words out.

"What..." The word was never fully formed, however as a noise from behind Riza made her stop and turn around. She was only half-turned when she felt something hard connect with the side of her head and she fell into darkness, watching two pairs of bare feet walk quickly away before she lost consciousness completely.

* * *

Okay, so I changed my mind about starting again, I'm a terrible person :S And sorry for the incredibly long wait, hopefully the chapter makes up for it? Plus, Roy's actually starting to do something, yay. Just to make it a little less confusing, maybe: this is on the same day as chapter 4, we just hadn't seen Roy and Rebecca on a case yet (besides, Roy wasn't too worried about it)

Also, this very nearly wasn't up tonight. The Inbetweeners has started again :D


	6. Connections

**Chapter 6: Connections**

"_Thanks for coming."_

_Roy merely nodded and shook the older man's offered hand before following him into the morgue. He was interested to know what could be so important about this child that Knox couldn't mention over the phone. The brief thought that this could just be a waste of time flashed through Roy's mind but he quickly shook it away. Sure, if it had been anyone other than Knox, he might allow that thought to remain, but Roy knew the 'doctor' before him. He was not the type to bring up anything trivial._

"_So, what did you find?" Roy asked as they walked up to the table which supported the small child. There was a covering over her body, but it was pulled down from her face and Roy could tell that the child must not have been any older than ten or eleven. Even so, a bomb cannot differentiate between children and adults and the child's face was badly burnt – one side was barely recognisable as human. His hand clenched involuntarily into a fist at his side. So young…! _

"_Hah…" Knox let out a bitter laugh, ignoring Roy's trembling body. "More like what I didn't find." He glanced over at Roy and gestured to the small body laid before them. "As you can see, this girl has been severely burnt by the blast. And I can assure you, what's under the cover is no pretty sight, either." Sadness and a hint of anger – anger at whoever had set the bomb – were evident in the man's voice as he looked down at the girl. "Still, we can clearly tell that she is Amestrian; blonde hair and blue eyes. She's Amestrian through and through."_

_Roy looked puzzled – was this really relevant? From what strands of hair that remained and were uncharred, he could tell the girl was a blonde, anyway, but why would that be important. "Given the closed borders, I would have made that assumption, anyway." He stated impatiently, but still waited for Knox to continue before voicing his criticisms. His tone must have given away an unasked question, however._

"_Yes, I know this might seem a somewhat trivial piece of information but…" Knox raised his gaze to look Roy directly in the eyes. "…there is nothing to indicate her existence."_

_Dark eyes widened at this. "…What?" Nothing to indicate her existence? What did he mean?_

_As if sensing Roy's confusion, Knox indicated to another body, fully covered by the blanket. "I was able to identify the body of the other victim without too much difficulty – a fellow citizen of Amestris. However, there was absolutely nothing on the girl. No birth certificate, no documents, nothing."_

_How could this be true? Roy narrowed his eyes and looked to the ground – surely there would be something on her, something to identify her. How could there be nothing?_

"_It's almost as if she doesn't exist." Another bitter laugh from Knox and Roy shot his eyes up quickly. 'She doesn't exist…' "Well, that's really all I had to tell you. I just thought it was best to say in person, sorry if it was a waste of your time."_

"_No, thanks for letting me know about this…" Roy's voice was distracted as he processed the information. No records, no proof of her existence… "I appreciate it. Though, I'd better be going back to work now. Thank you."_

"_No problem. You're about the one cop I trust to do his job right in this place. Good luck figuring out this case." Knox gave a small wave and Roy nodded his head before leaving the morgue, taking one last glance at the tiny frame lying on the slab before the doors swung shut behind him. This case just kept getting more confusing._

xxx

He had not returned home that night, instead Roy Mustang had flicked through the documents he had been surveying before going to meet Knox. The words had never registered in his brain, however, as the tumultuous thoughts swirling in his mind kept most of his concentration. In the end, he had only been staring at blurred pages and occasionally turning them while his mind was somewhere else entirely. Until…

That was how he had fallen asleep. Sprawled out over the documents on his desk, mouth open and light snores coming from his body. His dreams had been just as muddled and confused as his own waking mind was and had prevented him from feeling completely refreshed when he awoke the next morning. There was one thing that stuck in his mind even as he woke into a groggy state; one thing that blared louder than what Knox had told him. It was something he had read…

With a jolt, Roy sat up in his chair and looked back down at the documents before him to confirm that what he remembered was actually true. Sure enough, the file was opened at the correct page and one name – the owner of the land Armstrong had been clearing – jumped out at him.

_King Bradley._

Bradley. Everybody knew just how much power and influence this man held over Central. That must be why the Chief had authorised the demolishment and clearance of the crime scene; he was on Bradley's payroll. Anger boiled within Roy and he looked down at the list of land Bradley owned. Oddly, or perhaps not, he seemed to own a lot of land near military land. To top it off, most of the addresses matched where a good number of the bombings had occurred and even…

A groan left Roy's throat, one that held both grief and some sort of accomplishment. Bradley. He owned the land where the warehouse that Hughes had been murdered in had resided. There could be no doubt about it anymore. Hughes' murder, the bombings, _Bradley_, they were all somehow connected. But could it be that there was someone out there who held a serious grudge against Bradley? Or did the man have some hand in all of this? Whatever the case, Roy was determined to find out.

"Good morning sunshine!" Roy flinched as a cheery voice broke him from his thoughts and he glared up at the intruder. Rebecca simply blinked at him with a concerned expression. "You look like hell. Did you even go home last night?"

For the first time, Roy was aware that he must look terrible. He knew his hair must be a mess from the sheer amount of times his hands had ran though it, his shirt was unbuttoned and wrinkled and his eyes must have dark circles underneath them from his broken sleep. He simply reassured her with a small wave of his hand. "I was working late on this case and I must have fallen asleep. Sorry."

With a more serious expression, he clasped his hands and leaned his head on them, looking intently at Rebecca. "Did you find anything?" She had gone to the hospital, hadn't she?

Rebecca immediately straightened and looked back at him with an uneasy expression. "It's still early. The Lieutenant is in intensive care and hasn't woken up yet so it's not like I could get anything from him. I did, however, get the chance to talk to one of the civilians who, though still pretty beaten up, was well enough to give an account of what happened."

It was hard to keep her voice steady with Roy's piercing gaze fixed intently on her, but Rebecca swallowed a small lump and continued. "He said that he saw the two men – the military officers – walking down the street. One of them noticed a young girl playing where she shouldn't have been and must have gone to bring her away. He said the girl seemed to panic – she must have been scared of him - when the man approached her and then the bomb went off." She exhaled – it was true that she had found out nothing. "So, my investigation was a total bust. The other civilian victim can't remember anything of what happened. I didn't learn anything other than the fact that it must have been the Brigadier General who went for the child, which explains why they died and the others didn't – they were in closer proximity to the bomb when it exploded. Oh, but I did find out that the Lieutenant works directly under General Van Hohenheim."

Van Hohenheim. The man who was standing in for the Fuhrer while he was recovering from an illness in hospital. The man who was, right now, the only thing keeping the military from collapsing in on itself. Was it just a coincidence that one of his direct subordinates had been killed?

Rebecca noticed the thoughtful expression on Roy's face and raised an eyebrow. Perhaps he had found something from this that she hadn't? She definitely wouldn't put it past the man – he was much smarter than he let on at times. Maybe he had found something that related to what she had told him? "What about you?" She asked, slightly annoyed when he didn't even look up at her. "Did you find anything?"

After about a minute, Roy unclasped his hands and sat back, looking up at Rebecca before shaking his head and wearing a look of annoyance; all seriousness and contemplation gone from his features. "Likewise, I didn't find out a thing." He brought a hand up to his forehead and rubbed it agitatedly. "This case is getting to be a pain in the ass. Well, I guess it's a good thing it's not going to be a pain in _my_ ass for much longer anyway." He moved his hand slightly so one eye peeked out at Rebecca from under it and, seeing her look of puzzlement, decided to elaborate. "The case has been closed, Rebecca. We're not going to be investigating it anymore. Chief's orders." Rebecca's look changed to one of suspicion and her eyes narrowed, like she didn't believe he was going to give up on the case. "Now I can focus on my dating life." He added the last part with a mischievous grin, having caught on to Rebecca's suspicions. It seemed to work as she simply let out an annoyed sigh and stood up.

"You never cease to amaze me, Roy Mustang. Just when I think you're a brilliant man, you show me that you really are just a pervert." They both laughed at her good-natured prodding and she made her way to the coat-stand and started pulling her coat on. "But seriously, I can't believe they're closing it. I mean, it's not like we were getting anywhere with it, but… Do you think the military are taking over the investigations?"

"I really don't know, Rebecca. I wish I did, but it's nothing that should concern us now, anyway." Roy's voice was weary and Rebecca suddenly felt pity for the man. He did look like hell – as if he hadn't slept at all. Maybe he had been pushing himself to find _something_ so that they could keep the case? Or maybe there was something else on his mind. She sighed again; she had never been able to read that man and she doubted she'd ever know of any of his intentions. He was good at keeping things to himself and fooling others. She only partially believed his earlier words but knew there was nothing she could do. Try as she might, she would never be able to get any information out of him.

"Well, since we no longer have a case to work on for now, I'm going to grab a coffee or something. You coming?"

As expected, Roy's reply was a negative grunt and Rebecca simply shrugged her shoulders and left. There was definitely something on his mind and she was a bit put out that he would choose not to tell her, especially if it was something regarding the case.

Roy laid his head on his folded arms on his desk and listened as the door clicked shut behind Rebecca. He probably should have told her about what Knox had said but he was concerned for her safety. If this was indeed connected to Hughes' murder, then it meant there was something much bigger going on – bigger, he feared, then even what Hughes had initially thought. If so, there was a chance that their lives would be on the line while investigating it and he was not going to risk Rebecca's life. No, he would not be responsible for another death.

xxx

Unknowingly, Roy must have fallen asleep again with his head in his arms for the next thing he knew, he was being wakened by the rumbling of his stomach. A large yawn escaped his jaws and he looked at his watch. Just after eleven o'clock. He must have been asleep for around two hours or so. And he was starving. He could not remember the last time he ate.

Standing up and stretching his aching limbs, Roy let loose another yawn and made his way to the coat-stand. He would head out, grab some lunch and then continue with his investigation. He grabbed his coat and pulled it on as he made his way out of the door and headed down the halls.

Passing through reception, a glimpse of blonde caught Roy's eye and he looked up to see a familiar woman sitting on one of the chairs looking agitated. It took him a while to place her but he finally recognised her as the woman he had run into a few days ago. He smiled slightly and walked up to her. "Hi! Fancy-" His cheery tone and greeting was cut off when she looked up at him with frightened eyes and he noticed the cut and bruise on the side of her head. Worry quickly overtook him and he half knelt in front of her. "Are you alright."

It took a moment for Riza to respond with a little grunt – something which worried him even more – and another few moments for her to grasp his name from her memory. "…Roy?" She was uncertain if she remembered it correctly but his smile confirmed it. "I'm…I'm fine. I just…" She trailed off and glanced over to the receptionist who seemed to be regarding the two with interest. She didn't feel comfortable talking about this here.

Roy caught Riza's concerns as he followed her gaze to the receptionist. Placing his hand on her shoulder to bring her attention back to him, Roy spoke gently. "Why don't we go grab some lunch or something."

Normally, Riza would have declined but she needed to talk to the police about what happened last night so she silently agreed with a nod of her head and allowed Roy to lead her out of the police station and down the streets towards a small café. For some reason, she felt she would be more comfortable telling him about what happened than telling some random officer. At least she knew this man's name.

It didn't take long to reach the café and Roy picked out a small table in the corner for them. It was relatively private so they wouldn't be too concerned about people seeing them – though with the reputation he had built up, that wouldn't be a problem anyway. Still, he was eager to know what had the woman in front of him so scared looking and what had happened to cause the cut on her head.

They made their orders quickly when the waitress came; Riza ordering just a coffee and Roy ordering a coffee and a sandwich. Both sat in silence for a while after the waitress went away to get their food and coffee. Roy felt uncomfortable and felt the urge to make small talk while they waited on their orders coming back, but he kept his mouth shut after seeing Riza's eyes staring fixedly at the table.

After what seemed an age of sitting in silence, the waitress came back and set their orders in front of them with a small 'enjoy!' before moving away again. Roy let out a small sigh of relief and quickly bit into his sandwich while Riza took a small sip of her coffee and waited patiently for him to finish eating.

He finished his sandwich in record time and took a mouthful of coffee to wash it down before leaning forward and speaking to Riza in a low voice. "What happened?"

His eyes were so full of concern when Riza looked up that she felt more at ease talking to him. She didn't think that he would be the type of man to be bribed, but even still, she would still have to be careful with her words. "…I was attacked." She replied after a short pause as Riza remembered the night before. "Someone broke into my apartment and when I woke up to confront them, I was hit over the head and fell unconscious."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "Did you get a look at your attacker?"

"…" More hesitation before she chose to answer. "You wouldn't believe me, but…" she looked up at him, eyes earnest. "I managed to grab one of them and got a good look. It was…it was a young girl…" She still couldn't believe it herself, but she knew what she saw.

Instead of the scepticism she was expecting, however, Roy simply nodded his head and leaned back a bit, growing a thoughtful look. In truth, if he hadn't learned what he had from Knox and indeed from Rebecca, he might not have believed her fully, blaming it on concussion or something. But there was definitely something strange going on. "Do you have any idea why you were attacked?"

At this, Riza moved back and turned her head away. She knew, alright, but she didn't want to voice her suspicions of something, or someone, else being involved as well. "…I do." She took another small sip of coffee. "They took some documents I had. Concerning a couple of boys who have recently been adopted."

And then it clicked into place in Roy's head. A young attacker. Stolen documents. A charred girl lying on the cold metal slab. _'It's as if she doesn't exist.' _

Could it really be true? Was somebody using children to carry out special missions? But for what purpose?

Something else had been confirmed for Roy, though and he grit his teeth. He could now be absolutely certain that all of this was connected to Hughes' murder and to whatever it was that Hughes had found out.

'_Children playing where they shouldn't be…'_

Twice now, he had heard this and it was only now that the pieces were beginning to fall into place. Yes, there was a connection between the children and the bombings. But who was behind all of this? Why were they doing it? Was it the R.F? They had never killed before but now maybe they were now because nobody would be able to trace it back to them. He only evidence would be the burnt and dismembered remains of non-existent children who had only been 'playing where they shouldn't be.'

Roy ran is hands through his hair and Riza leaned forward. It was her turn to place a hand on his shoulder and ask him if he was okay but her presence barely registered in his mind. "…Bradley…" The word was muttered before he had a chance to stop himself and he Riza's hand tensed on his shoulder before pulling away.

For a moment, Riza sat in silence but she decided that Roy was not one of the officers affected by Bradley's 'payments'. "It's funny you should mention him," From behind his hands, Roy looked up at her quizzically. "because it was not long before the attack that he tried to get me to destroy the documents that have been stolen." She said it almost casually, as if she's _not_ hinting that he has something to do with all of this. Roy, however, picked up on the hint. The name Bradley has been popping up and he was fairly sure that the man is involved.

Without waiting for Roy to answer, Riza stood up and reached into her coat pocket, pulling out her purse and giving Roy the money for her coffee. "I have to go now, but it was nice bumping into you again." She talked as though they had not just had the conversation they had; they were just two acquaintances out for lunch.

Understanding, Roy nodded his head. "Yes. I hope we can see each other again, sometime." She simply smiled in response and turned to leave but something stopped her, making her turn back to face him again.

Her hand had brushed against a lump in her pocket and she realised what it was. She pulled it out and set it on the table where she had left her money. The ornament reflected the light as Roy stared at it. "You dropped this the last time. It looked expensive, so I kept it so I could perhaps return it to you. I almost forgot about it…"

Again, she turned to leave, but not without speaking the other thing which had been on her mind. "It reminds me a lot of _him._" And then she is gone.

With a slightly shaky hand Roy reached across and picked up the ornament, studying it. He did not need an explanation of who '_him'_ was and he narrowed his eyes. Something told him that man was at the root of everything going on here and he would not rest until he found out for sure.

Both of them, unknown to the other, made the decision in their heads: time to pay Bradley a visit.

xxx

The fire flickered and crackled, feeding upon the paper that had just been thrown into its mouth as a one-eyed man watched with a smirk on his face. It was a risky move, but he managed to get the files in the end and now they were destroyed and there could be nothing to lead back to him. Well, nothing except…

The smirk turned into a grimace and he prodded at the coal and the documents in the fire with the poker. That woman would also need to be dealt with now. There was no doubt that she hadn't noticed what was missing and he had seen enough of her intelligence to know that she would be able to put two and two together.

He was making fair headway with the boys already; they were enjoying the physical activities, even if it tired them out. However, if he let this woman run around now that he was certain she was close to figuring him out, all of what he had been doing and would be doing with the boys would go to waste and one of his most important missions would be a failure. No, he had to dispose of her.

The flames rose higher as the last of the papers burnt into nothingness.

* * *

Well, here's the incredibly late chapter. I thank everyone who has for sticking by this for so long and I do appreciate the reviews, alerts and favs it's gotten. Yes, no Ed or Al. I wanted this chapter to focus on the big revelations! It's short, I know and I'm sorry but the next should be longer. Hopefully this chapter has raised some more questions as well as answering a few. Next chapter should have at least some action in it (though I suck at action scenes), and will have Ed and Al, as well as Bradley! It should be up sooner this time but feel free to nag me if I'm taking too long!

Oh…and I'm thinking I might have to change the rating of this…? I don't know, I'm really bad at this sort of thing – I was watching all sorts of things I shouldn't have been when I was ten, so I don't know how to rate apart from the obvious…but some of the themes might be a little…dark?


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